Introducing MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts. Get early access to new original podcast from MSNBC and ad-free listening to all of Rachel Maddow's chart-topping award-winning original series, including Season 1 and Season 2 of Ultra, Bagman and Deja News, plus exclusive bonus content, and new episodes of The Rachel Maddow Show and Morning Joe ad-free. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts. Good evening, and welcome to our special coverage of Night 2 of the Republican National Convention in beautiful downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Super glad to have you here with us tonight. I'm Rachael Maddo here with my beloved, indefaticable, cheerful, well-hydrated colleagues, Joy Reid, Jen Saki, Ari Melber, Lawrence O'Donnell. We've got Nicole Wallace stuffed in a cubby nearby, but we will be talking with her shortly. I promise she will be here any minute now. We are expecting the Republican Party's presidential nominee, Donald Trump, to be entering the hall at the RNC in Milwaukee. So if I look shifty and like I'm not making eye contact with you, it's because I am trying to keep an eye on the monitors to know when that happens. I'll let you know when it does. Both the Secret Service and local law enforcement today faced some increasingly tough questions about Saturday's assassination attempt against Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania this past weekend.

Cnn was first to report today. Nbc news has now confirmed that the Secret Service had actually ramped up security around Trump in recent weeks after they received intelligence about a plot by Iran to attack Trump. Iran has singled out a number of different American officials in recent years for potential attempts on their lives. Bbc News reporting that three different Trump administration officials, National Security Advisor John Bolton, former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, former Iran envoy, Brian Hook, all were provided US-funded security teams because of threats from Iran, with Congress approving the funding for those added layers of protection in the case of each of those guys. Trump, as the Republican nominee, is just the latest US official, former official, to reportedly be threatened by Iran. Now, what's interesting here in terms news of the day and the pressing concerns about what happened this past weekend is that there is not known to be any connection at all between that reported Iran plot and the actual shooting that happened on Saturday. What this reporting does mean, somewhat worryingly, is that when that shooting happened on Saturday, it happened despite the fact that Trump's Secret Service protection had already been recently boosted to account for new perceived threats.

It is worrying that the Secret Service believed it had boosted security enough around Trump to account for a potential state-sponsored terrorist threat from Iran, but it was still somehow lax enough to not account for a random 20-year-old registered Republican with an in R-15. The Secret Service says it was local law enforcement that had responsibility for the building from which the shooter took those shots on Saturday that killed one rallygoer, wounded two more, and hit Trump in the ear. The The Secret Service says, in fact, local law enforcement officers were inside that building at the same time that the shooter is on the roof. As we're keeping an eye here on the live shot from Milwaukee, here's Trump still with the bandage on that right ear. The bandage looks, what do we think, about the same as it did yesterday. We saw Trump's running mate, newly announced running mate, J. D. Vance, walk into the hall moments ago, and now Trump himself joining in a bright blue extra long tie and his white shirt. We expect that Trump's bandage looks about the same as it did yesterday. We expect that Trump will be sitting with his family and with his running mate.

He's not expected to speak. We are expecting Vance to give his vice presidential nomination acceptance speech tomorrow, Wednesday night. We're expecting Trump to give his presidential nomination acceptance speech late at night on Thursday. This is what we get from the nominee and his vice presidential running mate. Last night and tonight, we get to see them clapping and enjoying the proceedings and sitting near one another. Again, live images right now from Milwaukee. Jd Vance, the Senator from Ohio, 39 years old, exactly half the age of running mate, 78-year-old Donald Trump. Sarah Huckabee-Sanders, former White House aid, now the governor of Arkansas. His son Eric, of course, the blonde one. Jd Vance, Immediately behind the Republican nominee, Mr. Trump is a Florida congressman who today on CNN suggested that shadowy forces had intentionally allowed the assassination attempt against Trump to go forward. That's those remarks. Not enough to keep him out of the box sitting right behind the nominee he was running with. I want to know if they've cleared the music. We heard YMCA, which is one of their signature songs that Donald Trump loves to play. They're now playing the kinks, and I know they've had some issues on the Republican side with some of these acts saying they really prefer that they not, but YMCA has managed to stick it out, I think, despite the village people may be objecting, but I don't know if they've objected.

Have they objected? I don't know. I've never heard that they have. But yeah, a lot of what we've been hearing has been cover bands, too, which is a slightly different thing than actually just paying the ASCAP rights. But there you have it. In terms of the other news that is going on around this convention that is casting a shadow over these events, it would be a remarkable thing in any circumstance. It's a particularly remarkable thing that in New Jersey today,things about being the nominee is that you don't have to sit through a bunch of It's very funny to me to keep cutting to him because it's not the most riveting thing in the world. He's given himself the job of just sitting there and listening. Did he look like he fell asleep the other day? No, it was praying. He was praying? That was, I think, misinformation. Not disinformation, I think people were mistaken. He did look sleepy because of the way he was flunked over, but it was the moment that the prayer was happening.But I'm sure he-In the moment, I noted it. I'm telling you, I saw it. Yes. I do believe he relishes having Nikki Haley, whether he is not expressing it facially, having Nikki Haley begin by saying, I fully endorse Donald Trump. Oh, God. He was going to not miss. It's more like an Indian wedding, having been to many Indian weddings in my experience, where the bride and groom are out for several days. That's right. Yes, it's more like that. Rather than just at the end. Lawrence, I wanted to ask you about what you were saying earlier at the top of the night, top of our coverage here, about what have been relatively low television ratings for these proceedings. You had suggested that maybe Trump's there a lot more than you would expect to see the nominee because he's trying to gooos those ratings a little bit. He thinks being there himself might- Yeah, I'm sure. Whether he would have gone without the assassination attempt, I don't know. But I'm sure when he decided to go, one of the things in his mind was, Well, this will certainly help Monday's ratings. That's actually bad news if it did, because it means if he didn't show up, they would have gotten less than 19 million people.And so these ratings are pretty low for for a first night of a convention. We have last night's ratings. And this is the forum where you're supposed to try to reach out to some voters you don't already have, which previous Trump conventions have not been good at. People watching it here are people who are very interested in this. It's entirely possible that of the people watching it here, they don't all intend to vote for Donald Trump. Maybe none of them intend to vote for Donald Trump. So remember, in the 19 million, there's a solid 5 million watching who are hoping this ticket fails, minimum of 5 million watching. So there's no more than 13 million people or so who are cheering for this ticket, who are actually watching this thing tonight. So this is in terms of compared to past televised conventions of the 1960s and '70s, this is a very small event. It's a small event. It's in a swing state. It's in a swing state. Very interesting news, news observation tonight from Ben Wichler, speaking with him, the Democratic Party chairman in Wisconsin, that even though we think of Wisconsin as such a partisan battleground, such hard-fought contested territory, he says what he's observing, and I don't think this has been from Ben Wichler because I don't think that's the way he generally talks, but he says what he's observing is that the Republicans haven't put together a ground operation in Wisconsin for this Republican ticket, that maybe they have around other Republican priorities in the state, some of the other battles they've had.But in terms of Wisconsin, trying to get it together on the Republican side to cast votes for Trump and now Vance, he says it's not there. Well, I've been talking to Ben fairly regularly on our program, and one of the reasons, possibly for that, is that they're bad at the organizational end of it, especially if you're changing heads of the party the way they do and the way they recklessly do. But remember, so much of the Trump money was going to legal fees. Yes, that's a good point. The Biden-Harrison, the Democratic campaign money was going to building Ben's infrastructure in Wisconsin and other states like that. Ben's had a big head start in Wisconsin on all of that. They're also a very talented, well-led party. He's the best. He's just the best. As we await the headliner speech by Donald Trump's daughter-in-law because she now is running the RNC, which itself is crazy. Another past Republican chief will give us his view of the new Trump family business. Michael Steele is going to join us coming up. Stay with us. Besides the balloons and the pageantry and the stagecraft and the weird cover bands, political conventions really are meant to be a display a televised, perfect display of unity, not only of the party coming together in support of their chosen candidate.Conventions are an opportunity for political parties to pitch the whole nation about how their party, their candidate, their platform is the best suited to unite the whole country in the years ahead. It is a showcase of unity. At least that is what they are supposed to be. Welcome, everybody who's watching at home and welcome, everybody in this great arena tonight. We love you all. Actually, wait a minute. I don't mean that. I don't welcome everybody in this meeting, in this room. The guys up in the fake news Frankly, you guys up there in the news have worn out your welcome. Right? Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, the So the reality then becomes you set yourself behind, and you damn sure don't do it six months before a general election in a hotly contested presidential election. So that infrastructure that your prior guest from Wisconsin was talking about, that he noticed, I guess it was the Democratic chairman, that the party in Wisconsin has not been able to crystallize and organize, they're going to pay a price for that. Downstream. You just don't stand that up, Rachel, in 30 days. That's a network that's built out over a year plus time. And the fact that they cut that cord in six months before the election by firing people tells you where the emphasis is in. The emphasis is in one place, top line, presidential. We win that. The thinking is everything else falls in place. That's not how this election is going to play out.Yeah. Then you combine that with the chaos that we have seen in state parties. Literal chaos in some cases. Physical fighting that happens at state party levels as people are fighting over these really extreme MAGA figures that have been elevated through this process. I think it is a real black box figure for what's going to happen over these next few months. Can I just real quick for you? You guys have a little bit of fun with our friend up in the balcony talking to the states who are in the outline sections of the arena. To Typically, what happens with that, states that wind up so far removed from the floor, a lot of times that's based on how the presidential candidate/nominy did in those states. So beyond the host state and for the president, the vice president, you then have a degree of support, if you will. So you get to places like Maryland where Donald Trump lost the state by 35 points, yeah, they're going to be sitting in the balcony. Yeah, exactly. And it's not even nosebleach. It's like you're in the planes. It's not like you're high up and you can look down.You're way in the back and still on the ground. It's the worst possible. Tuck behind some tumbleweeds. I'm here behind a pillar. Obstructed view. Cheaper ticket. All right, former Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele. Thank you, as always, my friend. It's great to see you. Absolutely. We are waiting a primetime speech from the daughter-in-law of the nominee because that's how the Republican Party runs now. She's not the chair of the Republican Party, but close enough. We're going to take a a quick break before we expect to hear from Lara Trump. Stay with us. Welcome back to our special coverage of Night 2 of the Republican National Convention in the fantastic, lovely, great city on a great Lake in Wisconsin. Downtown Milwaukee is where the five-serve arena is. And has it begun? We're looking for the keynote speech tonight from Lara Trump. Yes, she is not the chair of the Republican Party. She is the co-chair, but she's Eric Trump's wife, and so she's getting the speaking gig tonight. Let's dip in. But if you've never been, let me tell you about them. Oh, some of you have been. Regardless of how Anyone trying to leave a Trump rally without leaving with some new friends? You always make friends at a Trump rally, right? Veterans, teachers, blue collar workers, white collar workers, active duty military, police officers, firefighters, small business owners, Latino supporters, Christian supporters, Jewish supporters, Black supporters, White supporters, Asian supporters, gay supporters, Republicans, independents, and yes, even Democrats. At a Trump rally, you're not viewed as your profession, your religion, or the color of your skin. You're viewed as one thing, an American. Last Saturday was a jarring reminder that we, as Americans, must always remember, there is more that unites us than divides us. Lara Trump is the daughter-in-law of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. She's number two in charge at the Republican National Convention. Our coverage of the RNC continues now. Introducing MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts. Get early access to new original podcast from MSNBC and ad-free listening to all of Rachel Maddow's chart-topping, award-winning original series, including Season 1 and Season 2 of Ultra, Bagman and Deja News, plus exclusive bonus content, and new episodes of The Rachel Maddow Show and Morning Joe ad-free. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium Apple Podcasts.

things about being the nominee is that you don't have to sit through a bunch of It's very funny to me to keep cutting to him because it's not the most riveting thing in the world. He's given himself the job of just sitting there and listening. Did he look like he fell asleep the other day? No, it was praying. He was praying? That was, I think, misinformation. Not disinformation, I think people were mistaken. He did look sleepy because of the way he was flunked over, but it was the moment that the prayer was happening.

But I'm sure he-In the moment, I noted it. I'm telling you, I saw it. Yes. I do believe he relishes having Nikki Haley, whether he is not expressing it facially, having Nikki Haley begin by saying, I fully endorse Donald Trump. Oh, God. He was going to not miss. It's more like an Indian wedding, having been to many Indian weddings in my experience, where the bride and groom are out for several days. That's right. Yes, it's more like that. Rather than just at the end. Lawrence, I wanted to ask you about what you were saying earlier at the top of the night, top of our coverage here, about what have been relatively low television ratings for these proceedings. You had suggested that maybe Trump's there a lot more than you would expect to see the nominee because he's trying to gooos those ratings a little bit. He thinks being there himself might- Yeah, I'm sure. Whether he would have gone without the assassination attempt, I don't know. But I'm sure when he decided to go, one of the things in his mind was, Well, this will certainly help Monday's ratings. That's actually bad news if it did, because it means if he didn't show up, they would have gotten less than 19 million people.

And so these ratings are pretty low for for a first night of a convention. We have last night's ratings. And this is the forum where you're supposed to try to reach out to some voters you don't already have, which previous Trump conventions have not been good at. People watching it here are people who are very interested in this. It's entirely possible that of the people watching it here, they don't all intend to vote for Donald Trump. Maybe none of them intend to vote for Donald Trump. So remember, in the 19 million, there's a solid 5 million watching who are hoping this ticket fails, minimum of 5 million watching. So there's no more than 13 million people or so who are cheering for this ticket, who are actually watching this thing tonight. So this is in terms of compared to past televised conventions of the 1960s and '70s, this is a very small event. It's a small event. It's in a swing state. It's in a swing state. Very interesting news, news observation tonight from Ben Wichler, speaking with him, the Democratic Party chairman in Wisconsin, that even though we think of Wisconsin as such a partisan battleground, such hard-fought contested territory, he says what he's observing, and I don't think this has been from Ben Wichler because I don't think that's the way he generally talks, but he says what he's observing is that the Republicans haven't put together a ground operation in Wisconsin for this Republican ticket, that maybe they have around other Republican priorities in the state, some of the other battles they've had.

But in terms of Wisconsin, trying to get it together on the Republican side to cast votes for Trump and now Vance, he says it's not there. Well, I've been talking to Ben fairly regularly on our program, and one of the reasons, possibly for that, is that they're bad at the organizational end of it, especially if you're changing heads of the party the way they do and the way they recklessly do. But remember, so much of the Trump money was going to legal fees. Yes, that's a good point. The Biden-Harrison, the Democratic campaign money was going to building Ben's infrastructure in Wisconsin and other states like that. Ben's had a big head start in Wisconsin on all of that. They're also a very talented, well-led party. He's the best. He's just the best. As we await the headliner speech by Donald Trump's daughter-in-law because she now is running the RNC, which itself is crazy. Another past Republican chief will give us his view of the new Trump family business. Michael Steele is going to join us coming up. Stay with us. Besides the balloons and the pageantry and the stagecraft and the weird cover bands, political conventions really are meant to be a display a televised, perfect display of unity, not only of the party coming together in support of their chosen candidate.

Conventions are an opportunity for political parties to pitch the whole nation about how their party, their candidate, their platform is the best suited to unite the whole country in the years ahead. It is a showcase of unity. At least that is what they are supposed to be. Welcome, everybody who's watching at home and welcome, everybody in this great arena tonight. We love you all. Actually, wait a minute. I don't mean that. I don't welcome everybody in this meeting, in this room. The guys up in the fake news Frankly, you guys up there in the news have worn out your welcome. Right? Madam Chairman. Madam Chairman, the So the reality then becomes you set yourself behind, and you damn sure don't do it six months before a general election in a hotly contested presidential election. So that infrastructure that your prior guest from Wisconsin was talking about, that he noticed, I guess it was the Democratic chairman, that the party in Wisconsin has not been able to crystallize and organize, they're going to pay a price for that. Downstream. You just don't stand that up, Rachel, in 30 days. That's a network that's built out over a year plus time. And the fact that they cut that cord in six months before the election by firing people tells you where the emphasis is in. The emphasis is in one place, top line, presidential. We win that. The thinking is everything else falls in place. That's not how this election is going to play out.Yeah. Then you combine that with the chaos that we have seen in state parties. Literal chaos in some cases. Physical fighting that happens at state party levels as people are fighting over these really extreme MAGA figures that have been elevated through this process. I think it is a real black box figure for what's going to happen over these next few months. Can I just real quick for you? You guys have a little bit of fun with our friend up in the balcony talking to the states who are in the outline sections of the arena. To Typically, what happens with that, states that wind up so far removed from the floor, a lot of times that's based on how the presidential candidate/nominy did in those states. So beyond the host state and for the president, the vice president, you then have a degree of support, if you will. So you get to places like Maryland where Donald Trump lost the state by 35 points, yeah, they're going to be sitting in the balcony. Yeah, exactly. And it's not even nosebleach. It's like you're in the planes. It's not like you're high up and you can look down.You're way in the back and still on the ground. It's the worst possible. Tuck behind some tumbleweeds. I'm here behind a pillar. Obstructed view. Cheaper ticket. All right, former Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele. Thank you, as always, my friend. It's great to see you. Absolutely. We are waiting a primetime speech from the daughter-in-law of the nominee because that's how the Republican Party runs now. She's not the chair of the Republican Party, but close enough. We're going to take a a quick break before we expect to hear from Lara Trump. Stay with us. Welcome back to our special coverage of Night 2 of the Republican National Convention in the fantastic, lovely, great city on a great Lake in Wisconsin. Downtown Milwaukee is where the five-serve arena is. And has it begun? We're looking for the keynote speech tonight from Lara Trump. Yes, she is not the chair of the Republican Party. She is the co-chair, but she's Eric Trump's wife, and so she's getting the speaking gig tonight. Let's dip in. But if you've never been, let me tell you about them. Oh, some of you have been. Regardless of how Anyone trying to leave a Trump rally without leaving with some new friends? You always make friends at a Trump rally, right? Veterans, teachers, blue collar workers, white collar workers, active duty military, police officers, firefighters, small business owners, Latino supporters, Christian supporters, Jewish supporters, Black supporters, White supporters, Asian supporters, gay supporters, Republicans, independents, and yes, even Democrats. At a Trump rally, you're not viewed as your profession, your religion, or the color of your skin. You're viewed as one thing, an American. Last Saturday was a jarring reminder that we, as Americans, must always remember, there is more that unites us than divides us. Lara Trump is the daughter-in-law of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. She's number two in charge at the Republican National Convention. Our coverage of the RNC continues now. Introducing MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts. Get early access to new original podcast from MSNBC and ad-free listening to all of Rachel Maddow's chart-topping, award-winning original series, including Season 1 and Season 2 of Ultra, Bagman and Deja News, plus exclusive bonus content, and new episodes of The Rachel Maddow Show and Morning Joe ad-free. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium Apple Podcasts.

So the reality then becomes you set yourself behind, and you damn sure don't do it six months before a general election in a hotly contested presidential election. So that infrastructure that your prior guest from Wisconsin was talking about, that he noticed, I guess it was the Democratic chairman, that the party in Wisconsin has not been able to crystallize and organize, they're going to pay a price for that. Downstream. You just don't stand that up, Rachel, in 30 days. That's a network that's built out over a year plus time. And the fact that they cut that cord in six months before the election by firing people tells you where the emphasis is in. The emphasis is in one place, top line, presidential. We win that. The thinking is everything else falls in place. That's not how this election is going to play out.

Yeah. Then you combine that with the chaos that we have seen in state parties. Literal chaos in some cases. Physical fighting that happens at state party levels as people are fighting over these really extreme MAGA figures that have been elevated through this process. I think it is a real black box figure for what's going to happen over these next few months. Can I just real quick for you? You guys have a little bit of fun with our friend up in the balcony talking to the states who are in the outline sections of the arena. To Typically, what happens with that, states that wind up so far removed from the floor, a lot of times that's based on how the presidential candidate/nominy did in those states. So beyond the host state and for the president, the vice president, you then have a degree of support, if you will. So you get to places like Maryland where Donald Trump lost the state by 35 points, yeah, they're going to be sitting in the balcony. Yeah, exactly. And it's not even nosebleach. It's like you're in the planes. It's not like you're high up and you can look down.

You're way in the back and still on the ground. It's the worst possible. Tuck behind some tumbleweeds. I'm here behind a pillar. Obstructed view. Cheaper ticket. All right, former Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele. Thank you, as always, my friend. It's great to see you. Absolutely. We are waiting a primetime speech from the daughter-in-law of the nominee because that's how the Republican Party runs now. She's not the chair of the Republican Party, but close enough. We're going to take a a quick break before we expect to hear from Lara Trump. Stay with us. Welcome back to our special coverage of Night 2 of the Republican National Convention in the fantastic, lovely, great city on a great Lake in Wisconsin. Downtown Milwaukee is where the five-serve arena is. And has it begun? We're looking for the keynote speech tonight from Lara Trump. Yes, she is not the chair of the Republican Party. She is the co-chair, but she's Eric Trump's wife, and so she's getting the speaking gig tonight. Let's dip in. But if you've never been, let me tell you about them. Oh, some of you have been. Regardless of how Anyone trying to leave a Trump rally without leaving with some new friends? You always make friends at a Trump rally, right? Veterans, teachers, blue collar workers, white collar workers, active duty military, police officers, firefighters, small business owners, Latino supporters, Christian supporters, Jewish supporters, Black supporters, White supporters, Asian supporters, gay supporters, Republicans, independents, and yes, even Democrats. At a Trump rally, you're not viewed as your profession, your religion, or the color of your skin. You're viewed as one thing, an American. Last Saturday was a jarring reminder that we, as Americans, must always remember, there is more that unites us than divides us. Lara Trump is the daughter-in-law of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. She's number two in charge at the Republican National Convention. Our coverage of the RNC continues now. Introducing MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts. Get early access to new original podcast from MSNBC and ad-free listening to all of Rachel Maddow's chart-topping, award-winning original series, including Season 1 and Season 2 of Ultra, Bagman and Deja News, plus exclusive bonus content, and new episodes of The Rachel Maddow Show and Morning Joe ad-free. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium Apple Podcasts.

Anyone trying to leave a Trump rally without leaving with some new friends? You always make friends at a Trump rally, right? Veterans, teachers, blue collar workers, white collar workers, active duty military, police officers, firefighters, small business owners, Latino supporters, Christian supporters, Jewish supporters, Black supporters, White supporters, Asian supporters, gay supporters, Republicans, independents, and yes, even Democrats. At a Trump rally, you're not viewed as your profession, your religion, or the color of your skin. You're viewed as one thing, an American. Last Saturday was a jarring reminder that we, as Americans, must always remember, there is more that unites us than divides us. Lara Trump is the daughter-in-law of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. She's number two in charge at the Republican National Convention. Our coverage of the RNC continues now. Introducing MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts. Get early access to new original podcast from MSNBC and ad-free listening to all of Rachel Maddow's chart-topping, award-winning original series, including Season 1 and Season 2 of Ultra, Bagman and Deja News, plus exclusive bonus content, and new episodes of The Rachel Maddow Show and Morning Joe ad-free. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium Apple Podcasts.